Lawmakers scramble for SCOTUS tickets

When the health care reform law goes before the Supreme Court next week, some of its most ardent opponents on Capitol Hill plan to be sitting in the courtroom, hanging on every word.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) all have tickets to attend at least some of the six hours of arguments scheduled, according to their aides.

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They’re some of the lucky few who have been able to nab spots in what's sure to be a packed courtroom in the Supreme Court's highest profile case in decades.

The court gave handfuls of tickets to the leaders of the House and Senate for the three days of arguments — not nearly enough for the 535 elected lawmakers. So that leaves a lot of room for the leaders to choose who gets to go, and on what days.

Most of the leadership offices wouldn't discuss how they distribute the tickets or even confirm how many they have. And the Supreme Court itself refused to say how many tickets it gave to members of Congress.

But House Speaker John Boehner is handing out some of them. According to House GOP sources, he gave tickets to Upton, Reps. Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania and Michael Burgess of Texas, all top Republicans who handle health care issues on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

“The Supreme Court does provide a very limited number of tickets for oral arguments, and the speaker has been working with other leaders and the relevant committee chairman on the best way to allocate them,” said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.

Other vocal opponents of the law will be in the courtroom, too. In addition to Camp, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has a ticket and will be there, according to his office.

Republicans in particular are anxious to actually be in the courtroom as the 26 state attorneys general and National Federation of Independent Business ask the court to eliminate the law they’ve dubbed “Obamacare.”

It’s not clear that Democrats will have as strong a presence — though Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana, one of the law's main authors, has said he'll be there. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, another one of the law's authors, has a ticket, too, his office said.

But some say they'll try to get in even if they don’t get a reserved spot.

Readers' Comments (3)

Unanimously most Americans (Except Mitt Romney) refuse the notion that "Corporations Are People". Allowing Billionaires to CORRUPT the electoral process with their money is WRONG.

But it's clear the Conservatives in the SCOTUS still don't know how to tell RIGHT from WRONG. I'm being very charitable here, I know.

The Conservative Supreme Court has effectively turned America into a Corporate Monarchy, where only the voices of the Most Powerful are listened to and the NEEDS of the People (Like Healthcare) are put out for auction to the highest bidder to decide their outcome. Occupy Wall Street is proof that the only way for people to be heard is to take to the streets in protest.

How else can regular Americans have their voices heard? How can you compete with a Super PAC that can accept unlimited amounts of money and flood the airwaves for months?

I don't doubt for a second that SCOTUS Justices are bright and capable of making good decisions, but I'm afraid that in a partisan political climate they have allowed themselves to become the story and that should never be the case with any court. Any first year law student knows that you always want the facts and the evidence to speak for themselves.

And the FACT is Americans desperately need healthcare, and the EVIDENCE are the thousands who die every year of preventable diseases.

"Politics isn't about big money or power games; it's about the improvement of people's lives."

Not since before the Civil War has the Supreme Court been so radically polarized and so out of the US mainstream.

The five to four decision invalidating the Health Care law will de delivered in such a way as to help the GOP in the November elections. This is the same approach Justice Taney took in the 1857 with Dred Scott.

In 1857, the Court's Justices sowed the seeds of a Civil War. This time, it sows the seeds of the end of our Wall St. controlled government.